Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia
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The Constitutional Assembly (Indonesian Konstituante) was a body elected in 1955 to draw up a permanent constitution for the Republic of Indonesia. It sat between November 10, 1956 and July 2, 1959. It was dissolved by then President Sukarno in a decree issued on July 5, 1959 which reimposed the 1945 Constitution.
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[edit] Background
- See also: Indonesian National Revolution
On 17 August 1945, Sukarno proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Indonesia. The next day, a meeting of the Committee for Indonesian Independence chaired by President Sukarno officially adopted the Constitution of Indonesia, which had been drawn up by the Agency for Investigating Efforts for the Preparation of Independence in the months leading up to the Japanese surrender. In a about speech, Sukarno stated that the constitution was "a temporary constitution...a lightning constitution", and that a more permanent version would be drawn up when circumstances permitted. [1]
It not until 1949 that the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty to Indonesia, and the United States of Indonesia was established. On August 17 the following year, this was dissolved and replaced by the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, with Sukarno at its head. Article 134 of the Provisional Constitution of 1950 stated, "The Constituent Assembly together with the government shall enact as soon as possible the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia which shall replace this Provisional Constitution.[2]
[edit] Organization
The supreme body within the assembly, with the authority to make decisions concerning the constitution and matters related to it was the plenary session. Other parts of the assembly were components of it and answered to it. It had to convene at least twice a year, and was obliged to meet if deemed necessary by the Constitution Preparation Committee at a written request from at least a tenth of the membership. Meetings had to be open to the public unless at least 20 members requested otherwise. There were 514 members, one per 150,000 Indonesian citizens. A two-thirds majority was required to approve a permanent constitution
The assembly was led by a speaker and five deputy speakers elected from the membership. The Constitution Preparation Committee represented all the groupings within the assembly, and was tasked with drawing up proposals for the constitution to be debated by the plenary session. Below this committee was the constitutional committee, which had the power to establish commissions made up of at least seven members according to need to discuss various aspects of the constitution, and other committees to discuss other specific issues.[2] [3]
[edit] Composition
Elections for the Constitutional Assembly were held in December 1955, but the assembly only convened in November 1956. There were a total of 514 members, with the composition broadly reflecting that of the People's Representative Council, the elections to which had produced very similar results. Like the legislature, no party had an overall majority, and the four largest parties were the Indonesian National Party (Partai Nasional Indonesia), the Masjumi, Nahdatul Ulama and the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia). There were a total of 34 factions represented, divided into three blocks, according to the final form of the Indonesian state they wanted to see.[4]
| Faction | Seats |
|---|---|
| Pancasila Block (230 seats, 53.3%) | |
| Indonesian National Party (PNI) | 119 |
| Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) | 60 |
| Proclamation Republic | 20 |
| Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) | 16 |
| Catholic Party | 10 |
| Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI) | 10 |
| League of Upholders of Indonesian Independence (IPKI) | 8 |
| Others | 31 |
| Islamic Block (274 seats, 44.8%) | |
| Masjumi | 112 |
| Nahdatul Ulama | 91 |
| Indonesia Islamic Union Party (PSSI) | 16 |
| Islamic Educators Association (Perti) | 7 |
| Others | 4 |
| Socio-Economic Block (10 seats, 2.0%) | |
| Labor Party | 5 |
| Party of the Masses (Murba) | 1 |
| Younger Generation Communists (Acoma) | 1 |
| Total Seats | 514 |
[edit] Sessions
The Assembly met in the Gedung Merdeka in Bandung, which had been used for the 1955 Asian-African Conference. There were a total of four sessions.
[edit] 10 - 26 November 1956
On 9 November 1956, the members elected to the Constitutional Assembly took their oaths of office, and the following day the Assembly was officially inaugurated by President Sukarno, who gave a speech a permanent constitution. Wilopo of the PNI was elected speaker, and Prawoto Manhkusasmito (Masjumi), with Fatchurahman Kafrawi (NU), Johannes Leimena (Parkindo), Sakirman (PKI) and Hidajat Ratu Aminah (IPKI) as deputy speakers. [3][5]
[edit] 14 May – 7 December 1957
The session began with a discussion of procedures and regulations, then moved on to the material and system of constitution. However, the most important debate in this session was that on the basis of state. There were three proposals. Firstly, a state based on Pancasila, the philosophical basis for the state as formulated by Sukarno in a speech on 1 June 1945[6]. This was seen as a forum for all the different groups and beliefs in society that would be to the detriment of nobody. The second proposal was for a state based on Islam, and the third was for a socio-economic structure based on the family as set out in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. As none of the factions supporting these respective ideologies was able to command the necessary 2/3 of votes needed, this resulted in deadlock. Islamic parties accused the PKI of hypocrisy for supporting Pancasila with its commitment to belief in God rather than the socio-economic philosophy.[7]
Between 20 May and 13 June 1957, the Assembly discussed the material to be included in the debate over human rights. In contrast to the debate on the basis of the state, all sides were broadly in agreement over the importance of including provisions guaranteeing human rights in the new constitution, and this was subsequently agreed by acclamation.[8]
[edit] 13 January – 11 September 1958
The most important business in the second session concerned human rights. From 28 January to 11 September 1958 there were 30 plenary sessions and a total of 133 speeches. Among the rights agreed on were freedom of religion, rights for women (including in marriage), the rights laid down in articles 16 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the right to marriage and to raise a family, the right to health and prosperity and equal rights for children born outside marriage), the right to reasonable wage and freedom of the press.[9]
[edit] 22 April – 2 July 1959
On 18 February 1958, the Constitution Preparation Committee decided the 1959 plenary session of the Assembly would begin on 29 April 1959 (subsequently brought forward a week)and would discuss the form of the state and government, the preamble to the constitution and the broad outlines of state policy. However, the following day, the cabinet decided to implement Sukarno's concept of Guided Democracy under the 1945 Constitution. Calls for a return to Indonesia's original constitution had been growing as it was seen as a way out of the deadlock in the Assembly. In early 1959, the PKI and PNI accepted to the proposal, and the NU also agreed, providing the Jakarta Charter (a part of the original preamble to the constitution obliging Muslims to follow the precepts of their faith) was included. The cabinet proposed this to the Assembly, as with NU support, this motion would be able to achieve a two thirds majority. Masjumi members were strongly against a return to the 1945 Constitution as they viewed it as having the potential to turn the nation into a dictatorship as it would be very easy for the president to abuse his power.There were also calls for the human rights clauses agreed by the assembly to be included in the 1945 Constitution. Prime Minister Djuanda admitted there were shortcomings in the Constitution, but said that it could be amended at a later date. Meanwhile the Army organized demonstrations in favor of the return to the 1945 Constitution. Sukarno left the country on a tour on 23 April. On 23 May 10, the proposal to include the Jakarta Charter was defeated in a plenary session of the Assembly and the NU turned against a return to the 1945 Constitution. There were three votes on this, on 30 May, 1 June and 2 June, but none achieved the two thirds majority needed. In the final vote just 56% were in favor. The next day, 3 June 1959, the Assembly went into recess, never to meet again.[10][11]
[edit] Aftermath
On 29 June 1959, President Sukarno returned from his overseas tour and decided to adopt the suggestion of Army Chief of Staff General Abdul Haris Nasution. On 9 July 1959, he issued a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly and reimposing the 1945 Constitution.
[edit] References
- Feith, Herbert (2007) The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia Equinox Publishing (Asia) Pte Ltd, ISBN 979-3870-45-2
- Nasution, Adnan Buyung (1995) Aspirasi Pemerintahan Konstitutional di Indonesia: Studi Sosio-Legal atas Konstituante 1956-1956 (Translation of The Aspiration for Constitutional Government in Indonesia: A Socio-Legal Study of the Indonesian Konstituante 1956-1959 Pustaka Utama Grafiti, Jakarta ISBN 979-444-384-4
- Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Information (1956) Provisional Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Djakarta
- Ricklefs, M.C. (1991). A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4480-7
- Saafroedin Bahar, Nannie Hudawati Sinaga, Ananda B.Kusuma et al (Eds), (1992) Risalah Sidang Badan Penyelidik Usahah Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesian (BPUPKI) Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (PPKI) (Minutes of the Meetings of the Agency for Investigating Efforts for the Preparation of Indonesian Independence and the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence), Sekretariat Negara Republik Indonesia, Jakarta ISBN 979-8300-00-9
[edit] Notes
- ^ Saafroedin et al (eds) (1992) p311-312
- ^ a b Republic of Indonesia Ministry of Information (1956)
- ^ a b Nasution (1995) pp37-39
- ^ Nasution (1995) pp32-33,49
- ^ Simorangkir & Mang Ray Sey (1958)
- ^ Saafroedin et al (eds) (1992) p63-69
- ^ Nasution (1995) pp49-51
- ^ Nasution (1995) pp134-135
- ^ Nasution (1995) pp241-242
- ^ Nasution (1995) pp318-402
- ^ Ricklefs (1991) pp252-254
